Dynamically adjustable stiffening sleeve
AssigneeAlcon Inc.
InventorsReto Grueebler, Klaus Dorawa
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A surgical tool with a stiffening sleeve that is dynamically retractable during surgery. The tool includes a needle or implement for performing minimally invasive surgery through a pre-placed cannula at a surgical site. A stiffening sleeve of the tool about the implement may provide an added degree of stiffness such as where the implement is particularly thin. However, an end of the sleeve is held in position at the cannula as the implement advances therebeyond for the surgery. Nevertheless, as determined by the surgeon, the implement may be further advanced with a corresponding and deliberate retraction of the sleeve into the tool body as desired.
Claims15
A surgical tool, comprising:
- a tool body comprising a proximal end configured for grasping by a user and a distal end;
- a surgical implement extending from the distal end of the tool body and configured to access a tissue region of a patient;
- a stiffening sleeve extending from the distal end of the tool body and surrounding at least a portion of the surgical implement extending from the distal end of the tool body for stabilizing the surgical implement during a surgical procedure;
- a biasing mechanism coupled to the stiffening sleeve;
- a base coupled to the biasing mechanism and configured to support the biasing mechanism within the tool body;
- and
- a dampening feature configured to bias the base to dampen movements of the biasing mechanism, wherein:
- the biasing mechanism and the dampening feature extend distally from the base;
- the biasing mechanism is unitary with the stiffening sleeve, and
- the biasing mechanism is configured to:
- allow the stiffening sleeve to retract into the distal end of the tool body in response to a force pushing the stiffening sleeve into the tool body, and
- allow the stiffening sleeve to extend from the distal end of the tool body as the force is removed.
A surgical system for employing in an eye surgery, the surgical system comprising:
- a cannula for inserting into an eye of a patient to provide access to an eye interior;
- and
- a probe comprising:
- an implement for extending into the eye through the cannula to perform the eye surgery;
- a dynamically adjustable stiffening sleeve about the implement for contacting an inner surface of the cannula to prohibit sleeve passage therethrough with the implement;
- a biasing mechanism coupled to the stiffening sleeve and configured to:
- allow the stiffening sleeve to retract into a body of the probe as the implement is inserted into the eye through the cannula, and
- allow the stiffening sleeve to extend from the body of the probe as the implement is removed from the cannula;
- a base secured within the implement to provide support to the stiffening sleeve and the biasing mechanism;
- and
- a dampening feature configured to bias the base to dampen movements of the biasing mechanism, wherein:
- the stiffening sleeve, the base, and the biasing mechanism are in axial alignment and form a unitary monolithic component,
- the biasing mechanism extends from a proximal end of the stiffening sleeve, and
- the biasing mechanism and the dampening feature extend distally from the base.
A method of performing surgery, comprising:
- positioning a cannula by inserting the cannula into a surgical site;
- extending an implement of a surgical tool through an orifice of the cannula to a tissue region of the surgical site;
- stabilizing a stiffening sleeve of the surgical tool about the implement at the cannula short of the tissue region;
- dynamically retracting the stiffening sleeve into a body of the surgical tool as the cannula pushes back on the stiffening sleeve against a biasing mechanism when the implement is extended into the tissue region;
- dynamically extending the stiffening sleeve from the body of the surgical tool as the implement is removed from the cannula;
- and
- dampening, via a dampening feature disposed about the biasing mechanism, movements of the biasing mechanism during the dynamic retraction and dynamic extension of the stiffening sleeve;
- wherein:
- the stiffening sleeve and the biasing mechanism form a unitary monolithic component, and
- the biasing mechanism extends from a proximal end of the stiffening sleeve.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.